determined to change the world & have a helluva lot of fun doing it

What’s in a Name: all the terrible options we brainstormed when naming this blog

So it turns out that if you want to start a blog, you have to come up with a name. Simple, right? Ha!

Unfortunately, until you have a name, you’re kind of stuck in limbo. You can’t move forward because you have to buy a domain, pick a hosting service, etc., all of which require you to know what you want your website to be called.

And so, this nameless blog purgatory is where I found myself a week ago. A name, a name, my kingdom for a name! (Except that I don’t have a kingdom, and I’m not sure my friends really appreciated my overly dramatic Shakespearean reference.)

I brainstormed. I wrote up all the topics on which I thought this blog might touch. I tried to think of descriptive words for myself, and for the tone I wanted to capture here. I failed miserably, and so finally, in an hour of desperation, I made an amateur mistake. I asked my family for assistance.

Now please don’t misunderstand – I love my family. They’re smart and compassionate and especially funny. But sometimes our combined personalities make it difficult for us to take anything seriously. And darn it, blogging’s a serious business!

While we eventually pulled ourselves together and settled on “Grit & Banter” – a name of which I’m very proud – it wouldn’t be any fair to you, dear readers, to let the list of what has to be The Worst Potential Blog Names in the History of the Universe go to waste. After all, a lot of blood, sweat, and beers were poured into this process.

So without further ado, here’s our Top 10 Embarrassingly Bad Blog Names:

A Jenny for Your Thoughts – points for the awful pun?

Waffles & Words – a tribute to Leslie Knope, my TV Twin, and also a tribute to breakfast in general because why would anybody ever eat anything besides breakfast food?!

Planes, Trains, and Catmobiles – this was my younger brother’s attempt to work my mild obsession with cats into the blog title. “But. . . I’m not really writing about cats,” I protested. “Jenn. It’s you plus the internet. It’s a safe bet to say that there will be some cat pics on your blog.”

Shireside Chats – this is a riff on FDR’s “Fireside Chats” and also a reference to the fact that everyone calls our house “The Shire” (our last name is Hobbs, we’re surrounded by wildlife, we’re big believers in second breakfast. . .)

Jenny from the Blog – ‘sup JLo circa 2002. . . I still know all the words. . .

J.K. Rowling Please Be My BFF! – this insane name was completely my brainchild. I really admire Ms. Rowling, and if you somehow (what rock are you living under?!?) haven’t read her books already, you must immediately drop whatever you’re doing and remedy that tragedy.

Adventures in Insomnia – while it would be logical to blame coffee for my constant lack of sleep, he and I are in a perfectly dysfunctional wonderful relationship, so BACK OFF you teetotalers!

Foods & Moods – this sounds like a Judy Blume novel gone bad.

[Insert Blog Name Here] – not even kidding on that one, we seriously contemplated it.